FRIENDS: The new era
by Soumi97
Summary: It's been almost 5 years since the gang went their separate ways, and a new era began in their life. Now, they have come together for spending a small 'vacation'. Has characters both old and new i.e the next generation
1. A get together

**Introduction:- For those who have read my previous story From Friends to Joey, this is rather unnecessary and they may skip this part! For new readers... Hi! :)**

 **This story as the summary tells, is based around five years after the canon finale. Joey has moved to LA according to 'Joey' the spin-off and is pretty successful. Phoebe has moved to New Orleans and along with Mike runs an elite lounge. Ross and Rachel are married and are neighbours of Chandler and Monica, with their homes in Westchester. The rest, along with a few OC's is what you guys have to read and find out!**

* * *

The moonlight shone brightly upon 14, Newcastle Avenue to reveal a girl fidgeting on her bed, doing her best to drift off to sleep. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it. She was way too excited about the next morning to sleep. How could she not be when she was finally going to meet them?! Her parents had told her innumerable stories about them, the fun they had together, which made her practically jump with joy when she heard that they were coming tomorrow. Sure they had been in her life, but she had been too small back then.

She opened her eyes for the umpteenth time, in hope that it would be the sun which would be shining through her window. Alas! It was still the moon. Disappointed, she turned herself to look at her alarm clock, only to find that the glowing hands of Minnie had barely moved since she had seen them last. It had been barely five minutes since she had last seen it. If only there was a way to speed up time...

A mischievous grin brightened her face. Well she certainly couldn't speed up time. But at least she could make it seem like it did...

* * *

What was that sound down there? Was it a cat? Or worse... a thief? Or was it just his kids? He knew it couldn't be his wife because she lay peacefully beside him, letting out an occasional sound, fast asleep. As he bent down to kiss her forehead, he heard a sound again which confirmed that he hadn't imagined it. He decided to find out.

"I'll be back in a minute" he whispered after kissing her and got up to leave. He could swear he saw a hint of a smile on her lips as he did so.

On leaving his bedroom, he was momentarily blinded by the sudden presence of light in the hallway. "What the..." he said out aloud. He went downstairs, still blinking his eyes and shielding them with his left hand. On reaching down, he noticed that all the lights had been switched on and all the curtains were closed shut. Not to mention the clock which proclaimed the time as...

His lips curled upwards in a smile on hearing the soft patter of footsteps in the kitchen.

* * *

"What are you doing up this late Ems?"

Emma, who was not expecting it, jumped in shock and dropped the clock in her hand. It made a sound, but not loud enough as to wake up the other members of the house.

"I... I was just thirsty" she offered, blushing a deep red as she did so.

"That required you to switch on each and every light in the house except our bedroom? " asked Ross, pretending to be angry. In reality, he was amused.

"I am afraid of the dark" she said, defensively.

"And somehow that also involved changing time of every clock in the house?"

Emma said nothing for a while as she felt trapped. Finally, she spoke in a rather small voice. "I wasn't able to sleep"

Ross smiled "Nor could I. Come on."

Emma looked inquiringly at her dad.

" We are going to have some fun with Mommy. She is still asleep. "

Emma burst into giggles.

* * *

" Rach? Rachel? Honey? Wake up! Its time! " said Ross trying to shake her awake.

"Hmm?" asked Rachel, rolling to one side and refusing to wake up.

"Rach, come on! We have to leave for the airport in an hour. Monica will freak out if you are late." Boy, Ross was good when it came to co-conspiring with his daughter, who was struggling hard to maintain a straight face. But as Rachel finally managed to get herself in a sitting position, she quickly wore an innocent looking smile.

"Good morning, Mommy! "

Rachel barely smiled. Some things never changed. Like the fact that Rachel was not a morning person.

" Hurry up Rach, we don't have much time! "

Rachel got up and looked at their bedside clock. 6:15. That was enough to knock off some sleep. But not enough for her to notice that the house was lit by artificial light rather than by the natural sunlight. Or the faces of her husband and her daughter.

Ten minutes later, Rachel was none the wiser and was frantically searching the room for something. Ross began to feel sorry for her and decided to tell her the truth.

"Do you know where our hair dryer is Ross?" said Rachel interrupting his thoughts.

"I have no idea. Rach, listen... "

"Ughh. It's not here! I'd better ask Monica if I can borrow hers." she said after closing the drawer shut with frustration.

Ross was alarmed at the prospect as things seemed to be getting out of hand. "Oh it must be here somewhere. Don't call her, we'll find it."

Rachel in the meanwhile, had already picked up her cell and was calling Monica. Ross lurched to snatch the cell from her, but he was too late. Monica had picked up the phone. Ross quickly went from feeling sorry for her to feeling sorry for himself.

* * *

The silence of Chandler and Monica's bedroom was broken by the sudden ringing of Monica's cellphone. "Goddamit" whispered Monica slowly getting out of her bed to answer it.

"Who is it?"

"It's Rachel." Monica replied as she picked up the phone wondering why Rachel had called her at this ungodly hour.

"Hello?" she whispered groggily.

After hearing the other end...

"What?" Had she heard her right? Was she SERIOUS?!

The voice on the other end repeated itself now sounding more urgent and aggressive.

"For God's sake Rachel, why do you want a hairdryer at 2 am in the morning?"

Monica's face turned from annoyance to confusion on hearing the other end.

"Yes it is. Either that or somehow your house drifted apart by a few thousand miles!"

As Monica opened her blinds, she saw Rachel's head popping out of the curtains. The look of bewilderment on her face was quickly replaced by anger.

* * *

"You are a dead man" she growled at a visibly uncomfortable Ross. Out of the corner of the eye, she caught Emma trying to scoot off.

"And you are not going anywhere! "

Emma stopped where she was, unable to stifle her giggles.

" You think this was funny? " she asked, her eyes back on Ross.

" I... I guess it was. A little bit... " Ross replied trying hard not to smile at the expression on Rachel's face which was a 'if looks could kill' one.

Just then the doorbell rang, which moments later turned out to be a formality as the visitors had already stepped in using their keys. One of them had a look of confusion and anger while the other seemed mildly amused. The trio had come downstairs to find themselves being stared at by Monica and Chandler.

"What's going on?"

"Ross here thought it would be funny to make it appear as though it was morning so that I could get out of bed and make a fool of myself! "

Monica glared at Ross who mumbled something which sounded like 'It was Emma's idea'

" Even if it was, I thought you had more sense than a 7 year old to wake us up in the middle of the night knowing full well that we have an early day tomorrow! " Monica admonished.

" Actually it was Mom's idea" Emma said, smiling as she did so.

Four pairs of eyes turned towards Emma, surprised by her statement.

"Ben told me the story of how Mom had made Aunt Jill believe that it was morning by doing the same thing. Aunt Jill was actually caught having cornflakes and was shouted at by Grandpa Green for eating cornflakes at 3 in the morning. And by the time Aunt Jill explained, Mom was already in her room pretending to be asleep. "

All now look at Rachel who now seems angry on herself.

"Darn! Why did I have to be his 'fun' Aunt Rachel?"

"Impaled upon your own sword Rach!" smirked Chandler.

"Boy we should have brought our cameras for such a perfect family moment! "

* * *

" Checking for positions. Respond with a yes on hearing your name. Ross, you check for the kids' positions." ordered Monica, her face hidden from view by a sheet of paper in front of her.

"Jack, back seat on the left in car 1"

"Hang on. Which car is car 1?" asked Rachel from her seat.

"It's the car which leads. Honestly were you even paying attention during the orientation I gave barely 5 minutes ago? "

" Erica, back seat on the right in car 1"

"Yes mom." replied Erica.

"Chandler, front seat beside the driver in Car 1"

"Yes mom!" replied Chandler, to which Monica made a face.

"Ross?" Monica called out.

"All in position in Car 2"

"Can I sit besides Jack?" asked Emma.

"When hell freezes over, young lady!" replied Rachel.

"I promise we won't fight."

"Like you do twice a day?" demanded Rachel, on which Emma frowned.

"Besides, you'll keep Daniel company."

"He's boring!" she complained, while pointing at Daniel who was busy colouring his dinosaur.

"Emma! That's rude! Say sorry to your brother! " scolded Rachel.

"I'm sorry" she said, in a tone which conveyed that she didn't actually mean it.

"Okay" said Daniel turning to smile at her before resuming his activity.

"Boring" Emma whispered again, looking away at the window by her side.

Ross and Rachel look in exasperation at Emma, before they find themselves trapped in looking into each other's eyes, a smile on their faces.

"Ahemm."

Monica cleared her throat to get their attention. "Sorry to interrupt you, but we are kind of on a tight schedule here"

Ross and Rachel looked away, blushing.

"Now. Seat belts?"

"Check" said Ross, who had already buckled Emma and Daniel safely into their seats.

"Chandler?"

"All done!" he shouted, having done the same.

"Rach, you got your license along?"

"Yeah."

"The new one. And not the one which expired a decade ago?"

Rachel's face changes from exasperation to self doubt. "Hang on..." she says as she searches her purse for the same. "Aha! It's the right one! See!"

Monica checks it, and verifies it as valid.

"Seems like you've finally become responsible" she says, a bit surprised.

As soon as Monica moves away towards her car, Rachel turns to Ross "Thank you!"

"My pleasure. Although I can't see why I can't drive!"

"Because we have to reach there by 9 AM Ross and not 9 PM!"

"Car 1 to Car 2. I repeat Car 1 to Car 2. Can you hear me?" Monica's voice came in through the walkie talkie in Ross and Rachel's car.

"Yes Mon!"

"Car 1 will lead the way. So do NOT overtake Car 1. I repeat do not overtake Car 1.If you loose visual then tell that you lost visual. Car 1 will slow down. Our destination is JFK's Terminal 2. On reaching, we park our cars in the same parking lot and preferably close by. Phoebe's flight arrives first at 9:21, followed by Joey's at 10:03. Joey will come to T2 by shuttle, so there should be no confusion of running to T4 in the event that we split. Any questions?"

"Yeah. Mon, why can't I lead? I know the route pretty well."

"Because we have to reach our destination alive and in one piece Rachel"

* * *

The two families constituted a miniscule number amongst the thousands gathered at the arrivals eager for a glimpse of the person they had waited so long to arrive. Daniel was seated on Ross's shoulder, while Erica and Jack were poking through Chandler's legs and Emma was jumping every once in a while, desperately trying to look through the crowd.

"Shouldn't she be here by now?" asked Rachel.

"I don't know... her flight has landed on time. May be she got stuck at the baggage claim" replied Ross, eyes still towards the people emerging through the gates.

As minutes passed, the necks craning for a look grew sore. They had just begun to worry until...

" Aunt Phoebe!" Daniel exclaimed, all of a sudden, his finger pointing at a blonde women carrying a luggage cart, while his other hand was waving the photograph he had been given.

"Bravo Daniel! Phoebe, hey Phoebe!" Ross called out, followed shortly by the rest.

"That's not fair! How could he find her first?!" exclaimed Emma, cross with herself for not identifying Phoebe first.

Phoebe, in the meanwhile was still searching for her friends, unable to hear them because of the buzz of the airport. "Here we are kids. New York City!" she told them in delight. They were seated on the luggage and were looking around, taking it all in.

"Over here Pheebs! " shouted Chandler, waving his hand for her to see.

Phoebe had finally noticed them and started heading in their direction, excitement and glee obvious on her face.

" Excuse me! Excuse me! Oh get out of my way! " she said, trying to pass through.

" Pheebs!" Rachel shouted in alarm as Phoebe got right in the way of another person and collided head on. Fortunately, the kids and the cart were saved from the impact.

"Be careful... " continued Rachel, wincing.

But Phoebe didn't take long to get up and get going, completely ignoring the person who she had collided with, who was glaring and cursing at her.

Finally, after zigzagging through the rest of the crowd, Phoebe managed to reach to them.

" Hey you guys! It feels so nice to see you after so long!"

"Same here! "

"Kids, say hi to everyone!" Phoebe said, turning towards her kids.

"Hi" said Joey Jr. who had inquisitive look in his eyes.

"Hello" said Rain in a small voice, clutching and somewhat hiding behind Phoebe's legs.

"Aww. She's so cute." exclaimed Monica.

"I'm cute as well!" said Joey Jr indignantly.

"Of course you are sweetie! " she replied while others laughed at his innocence.

A session of hugs, kisses and introduction followed with the kids getting to know each other, and all the adults as well, who got busy making a fuss of themselves with them. Soon, they found themselves walking to some nearby couches, as they still had time to kill before Joey's flight landed.

* * *

"That must have been fun to watch! " exclaimed Phoebe, laughing out hard on hearing Emma's latest mischief." Give me a high-five!" she said to Emma, who did, giggling.

"Believe me it was not! I've been feeling like I'm sleepwalking ever since I got up this morning !" Rachel replied still annoyed.

"Come on! Give her a break! She's only 7!"

"Easy for you to say! You've such cute, harmless children!"

"Harmless?! Oh no, no, no! Don't you get fooled by this innocent face!" Phoebe said, pointing to Rain.

"Only a few days ago, this truant hid herself for so long that we were about to call the police until she magically turned up. And that was only because she began feeling hungry!"

"Maybe she went to Narnia. Did you Rain?" asked Jack, all of a sudden.

"She couldn't possibly have gone to Narnia!" said Emma.

"I was asking Rain!"

"And I am telling you she couldn't have! Because then she would have returned immediately not hours later"

"And again, I am telling you that I asked Rain and not you!"

Emma and Jack stare angrily at each other.

"Okay, for the last time stop fighting!" scolded Monica.

"He started it!" complained Emma

"No, you did!" Jack replied.

"That's enough Emma! You too Jack!" Rachel being the one this time.

"God we've changed a lot! I mean barely 5 years ago it was us who were squabbling over the smallest of things and now look! We are stopping our kids from doing the same!"

Nods and murmurs of assent follow Phoebe's statement and a silence falls over the group, broken by the arrival of Chandler with refreshments in hand.

"Cookie! " Erica exclaims, jumping and taking the first one. All the kids follow suit.

"Coffee?" Chandler asks, to which all the adults get up to grab their glass. As soon as they take the glass and settle down, the gang feels a remarkable sense of familiarity, which Ross voices.

"May be a lot has changed. Yet here we are, the five of us sitting down on these couches, drinking coffee and chatting as if we have nothing better to do!"

Everyone smiles as they become nostalgic, reliving the moments when they indeed had nothing better to do.

"I mean, we have moved on, we have settled and started our own families, but moments just like these make me glad that we have still not forgotten our past and choose to relive it. Then be it only occasionally as in this case, after almost 2 years."

"You still have the quality." Phoebe says, as a single tear escapes her eye and she dabs it by a tissue. Her face soon turns into a smile, as though reassuring.

"Which quality?" Ross asks, puzzled.

"Of making people feel exactly what you feel." she replies, her smile now broadening.

* * *

"Is that Joey?!" Rachel exclaims.

"Looks like it." Monica replies, although she is unsure herself.

"No, it can't be!" opines Chandler.

All are starting at three men in the far distance, all dressed in black suits and wearing glasses. The men were walking swiftly towards them, but it could be argued that it was their general direction. The only reason to suspect that the guy in the center could be Joey was because of his hair and built. Everything else was far off.

The men had a gait resembling seasoned businessmen.Two men were flanking the central person, who was talking on a cell. One of the men then walked off towards the refreshments, probably following instructions. All of a sudden, as he was exposed some women swooned around him, shouting and practically screaming. The guy smiled and responded to their requests of an autograph, a photo or just his 'charm'. Shouts of 'Joey' 'Tribbiani' were distinctly audible.

The gang had their mouths open in shock. Sure they had seen all of the films he had acted in and produced. But they had no idea that their 'Joey Tribbiani' had developed such professional mannerisms.They got up to approach him as he seemed to make zero progress with the fans surrounding him.

They finally got close enough, but still were unable to make contact as Joey was busy dealing with his fans. Thankfully, the other guy arrived having what seemed like a sandwich in one hand. The crowd was slowly but successfully cleared.

"Does this sub have meatballs?"

"Yes Sir."

"Extra sauce, melted cheese and bread baked golden brown and not blackened?"

"Yes Sir"

Joey took off his glasses and took a bite of it.

"Good job!" he said in approval.

"Thank you Sir."

"Yeah, that's Joey, people!"

* * *

 **A/N: If you have a comment to leave, be it positive or negative, please do! I'm all ears and will be grateful!**

 **Also any suggestions/ scenes are welcome. Leave a PM if so!**


	2. Improvisations

**Before starting with this chapter, I would like to explain** **a couple of things. I hope that solves your queries.**

 **I'm sorry I didn't include Mike in this story. Don't worry. He and Phoebe are happily married in this fic. Also Joey has married Alex and they continue to live in LA. The reason was that I already had 12 characters, making it difficult to focus on everyone. So I decided to cut Mike and Alex out of this union. I'll be making some passing references to them, but that's it. Sorry!**

 **And yeah, I know Daniel was Monica's name for her baby. But you know how Rachel usually gets her way, plus I really liked Daniel as a name.** **Yeah we all hope that one day Chandler and Monica have a kid of their own :)**

 **2.** **Improvisations**

"Umm... Joe?" Rachel asked, looking a little intimidated.

"Yes Rach?"

"Are these guys going to stick around with us all the time?" she asked in a low voice, referring to his bodyguards, despite them being well beyond their hearing range.

"Why? Are you afraid of them?" Joey asked, chuckling in amusement.

"A little" Rachel conceded.

"They will be around. Close enough to approach us within a few minutes if needed, but far enough to give us our privacy." he assured her. Rachel wasn't totally satisfied.

"Ahemm.. Guys? We've got a situation here." Monica said, interrupting the conversations everyone else were having. To everyone's surprise, they had already reached the street leading to the parking lots. They turned to look at Monica quizzically.

"There are twelve of us, not including those two.." she said, pointing to Joey's guards. " And we can accommodate only ten in our cars. So should we call a cab or...?"

"Hold on for a second. You are forgetting something. " Joey said, a hint of exasperation on his face.

"What?" she asked, perplexed.

"That I'm not Joey anymore. I'm _'Joey'._ " he said, saying his name in a dreamlike manner.

"That was very helpful Joe." Chandler said sarcastically.

"Just wait for a couple of minutes. You'll see." he replied, smirking.

The rest looked at him in confusion.

"Clarke?" he suddenly asked to one of the guys who were presently standing at a respectable distance from them.

"He'll be here in a minute, Sir. He has just left the lot."

Joey nodded in response, unaware of his friends who were still soaking in this new _'Joey'_

Everyone was then distracted by a soft purring heard from the other end of the street. A few seconds later, the source presented itself. A sleek black Mercedes. Mouths fell open in shock, Chandler's being the widest.

"See what I meant? So somebody can come with me and... "

Before Joey could actually finish his sentence, he found Rachel standing next to him.

"I thought you said you were afraid of them? Or didn't want them around?" Joey asked a bit taken aback.

"Oh no, no no. I _love_ having them around. " she replied, prolonging and emphasising the word 'love'.

Nearly everyone rolled their eyes, but Emma had by far the most amusing reaction to her mother's apparent change of mind.

" Oh, Mommy." she said, shaking her head whilst pressing her hand on her forehead in exasperation.

* * *

"Alright! So what have we got here?" Joey asked, rubbing his palms as he went through the video game collection.

"Number magic, really Chandler?" he continued, raising an eyebrow after picking up the CD.

"Monica has replaced all of our video games with all these educational programmes." Chandler offered as an explanation.

"Aww man. Now how are we supposed to kill time until lunch?" Joey asked, feeling bummed out.

"I have an idea." Chandler said, with a sparkle in his eyes.

* * *

"Okay! So has everyone understood the rules?" Chandler asked. Phoebe, Ross, Joey and Chandler were standing in the game room, and all the kids except Emma were facing them on the other side of the room. Emma, on being declared too old, had stalked off with her nose held high in the air.

"Wait a second. Let me get something straight. We are betting money on our own kids?!" Phoebe asked, a bit incredulous.

"Yeah. AND the winner takes all!" Chandler replied, as though that was enough of an explanation.

"Oh, okay!" Phoebe said, shrugging.

"When I say go, everyone will pick their kid for the challenge. Ready?" he asked.

The others nodded with a glint of competition in their eyes, their bodies prepared for a run. As soon as Chandler gave them the word, there was total chaos, as all rushed towards the smartest looking kid.

"Guys! Guys! Please, let's be civil. The real challenge will be AFTER we have formed the teams." Chandler shouted, out of breath. A couple of seconds of peace followed before everyone shrugged and resumed their 'act'. Eventually, the scene returned to normalcy, with everyone being paired except for Rain. Joey was with Joey Jr, Ross with Jack, Phoebe with Daniel and Chandler with Erica. Joey Jr stuck out his tongue at his sister, who responded with the same move.

"I want to play too!" Rain wailed to the 'grown ups' in the room.

"Listen, Rain. You have to be the monitor, okay? You tell me if anyone is cheating." Chandler said to console her.

"Okay" she replied. Cheating wasn't gonna be easy!

"Good girl! Let's begin."

The game was a simple one having basic mathematics questions, which the kids were 'supposed' to answer by themselves. The adults were 'supposed' to only support their kid and not answer the questions themselves. After a few rounds of honest game play, Chandler and Erica had an obvious lead. Erica was the smartest, followed closely by Jack. While Joey Jr. brought up the tail. That was when things began to get fishy.

12 apples were on display for Team Phoebe. Daniel seemed to get stuck at figures beyond 10, and he turned to face Phoebe, confused.

"12" Phoebe whispered, unaware that her daughter was right behind.

"Mom is helping Daniel" Rain declared loudly.

"Good catch, Rain. Phoebe you are out!" Chandler announced.

As Phoebe got up, she mouthed something which suspiciously seemed something like 'traitor'.

The game continued and team Joey was still at the last position. But here the reason was different.

Seeing images of foodstuffs like apples and cookies repeatedly had apparently made Joey Jr. cranky.

"I'm hungry!" he complained.

"When we finish this game, we'll all have cookies alright?" Joey said, trying to make him stay put.

"But I'm hungry now!"

"Hey champ! Go to the kitchen. Aunt Monica is making brownies." Chandler told him as a ruse, which was probably true.

"Brownies!" he exclaimed, delighted and stood up to head downstairs.

"Wait up kid! I'm coming with you!" Joey said, standing and giving up the game as well.

"Yeah, they are sold!" Phoebe said, rolling her eyes.

Both Ross and Chandler had an amused expression.

"What?! If it's Monica's home made brownies, you know I can't say no to them!" Joey argued and headed out of the door, with little Joey tagging along.

"Yeah, you can't!" Chandler said behind him, smirking as he did so.

The game resumed and now became a closer contest between the Bing twins.

"I'm gonna win this Erica!" Jack shouted, a bit purposefully as it was Erica's turn.

" Nah!" she replied. "Yay!" she exclaimed as she solved yet another question right. Chandler gave her a high - five.

"You don't listen to them, Jack. We'll see them at the finish." Ross said to encourage Jack.

"Yeah, we will!" he replied. Some of his confidence melted at the next question though.

'9 plus 17 = ?'

"Hey, now that question is too tough for a 5 year old!" Ross complained.

"Don't blame us, it was you who suggested more difficult questions." Chandler said in glee.

Jack frowned at the screen for a long time, while Erica smiled at her brother's confusion.

"I know the answer!" came a singsong voice from the door. It was Emma.

"I didn't ask you!" he replied, bothered by her very presence.

"And I was not gonna tell you anyways!" she answered.

Jack just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Aunt Monica has called everyone down for lunch." she said. Everyone groaned in response.

"Dad, Chandler" she continued. Chandler lowered his head at being called by his name. Being overly friendly with the kids had it's own drawbacks. He was the least respected yet the most adored adult amongst the kids who knew him.

" Mom wants you downstairs immediately to set the tables on the lawn."

Groans again.

"We are in the middle of a very important game!" Jack insisted.

"Oh and by the way 9 plus 17 is 26." she added as an afterthought and immediately made a run for it as Jack went after her for ruining their game.

Ross and Chandler were annoyed that the game ended with no clear winner.

"Oh, I love this!" Phoebe suddenly exclaimed.

The rest looked at her with confusion.

"Oh, you know, all this 'happy family' camaraderie." she offered in explanation.

Something in their expressions told her that they were not in agreement with her statement.

* * *

"So when I say pivot... " Ross said, as he and Chandler grabbed the opposite ends of a table and were about to lift it.

"Ross, for the last time, the lawn is straight through the back door. So, No. There's no pivoting and hence no need to say pivot." Chandler replied, as though trying to make a toddler understand that 2 plus 2 equals 4.

"Alright..." Ross replied, sulking as he did so. As they continued to heave the table through the door he whispered,

"I like saying pivot."

"You are unbelievable." Chandler said.

"Hey, lazy boys! Bring the table right here, over this spot." Monica called, having already marked the place by powdered chalk.

"Who's crazy now, huh?" Ross asked, as they placed the table down precisely on the markings.

"Well, seeing that she's my wife, and you are my friend... " Chandler said moving his hands with the palms facing upwards, as though balancing the two.

" I'd have to say you."

Ross smirked at his response.

"Wow! This is so nice! When did you guys do this?"

Phoebe called everyone's attention to the small, newly placed gate midway between the two ends of the wall separating Ross and Rachel's house from Monica and Chandler's.

"A few months ago, when SOMEONE" Monica looked pointedly at Rachel as she said this, "thought it was a very long walk from their front door to ours."

"What?!" Rachel asked. "It's so convenient. Now I can simply walk through our back door to yours."

"I must say I agree with her." Ross said, backing her. Rachel gave him a grateful smile.

"Way to get some tonight, man!" Chandler said, patting Ross's back.

"There are kids around for God's sake, Chandler!" Joey said, to everyone's surprise.

Hearing the unexpectedly mature comment, all turned to look at him.

"What? I can't be an adult?" he asked, offended.

"No, no. It's more like, you've never been one." Ross offered.

"I know. But I feel like I'm ready, you know." he said, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"For what?" Ross asked.

"Seeing you guys all shaping into such beautiful families, I talked to Alex about it and we decided that it's about time we tried having kids." Joey announced, looking really happy about it.

It always amazed them how Joey could end up surprising them all. They had never thought that Joey, who was once all for a playboy lifestyle, would ever get married. Yet he had, two years ago to Alex. And now he was ready to have kids. He really had matured in the past few years. Well at least in some ways.

"That's great news, Joey! Congratulations!" Phoebe was the first to exclaim and hug him. The others followed suit shortly afterwards, all genuinely happy about the news.

* * *

Even though the tables had been set in the relatively spacious backyard, the presence of 12 people still managed to make that space appear cramped. After the initial scooching of the chairs and a confusion over the positions, the group finally settled down. Not to mention that by that time half the dishes had gone stone cold. But somehow, nobody actually noticed that as it was the first meal they were having together in the past two years.

"Oh yeah! That had been so much fun!" Monica commented, as they all relived their trip to Hawaii, where Joey had got married. All seemed to agree with her.

"Why don't we do that again? We should all totally go on a trip somewhere!" Phoebe suggested.

There was a pin drop silence as every other conversation came to a screeching halt on the prospect, which was followed immediately by a buzz where everyone wanted to address everyone at the same time.

As complete pandemonium seemed to descend, there was hooting of a horn loud enough to alert the entire neighbourhood.

"What the hell was that ?!" Phoebe asks the question which was in everyone's mind, as they attempted to get rid of the persistent ringing in their ears.

The source was apparently Monica, who immediately blushed a deep red on having gained everyone's attention.

"Sorry. Didn't know it was that loud! But it sure is handy!" she said, looking at the horn with appreciation. "The store guy told me it was a perfect tool for bringing a class to order!"

The death glares she received made her jump right to the point.

"Alright, so about the trip." she continued, "Let's have a vote. Seeing as we were going to spend a week together anyways and as the schools are also on vacation, I think the timing is as good as it'll ever get. I'm in. Chandler?"

"You bet I am!"

"Joey?"

"Sure!"

"Phoebe?"

"Of course I'm in! It was my idea!" she replied, scoffing.

"Calm down, Pheebs! I was just confirming. Rachel?"

"Yeah, why not? Melissa'll watch the store for me, so no worries!"

"Ross?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Ross trailed, always the skeptic.

"Oh come on Ross! Don't be such a killjoy!" Rachel wailed at him.

" Fine. We sure haven't done something together in a long time." he conceded.

"Okay. So we've all agreed that we are going. To where but?"

THAT, was apparently a wrong move as the chaos resumed immediately.

The horn blew again.

"For God's sake Monica! The next time you need to quiet us down you can just shout or throw water or something!" Rachel shouted as she held her head. The others agreed in unison.

"Fine. If you'll be civil, that is." Monica answered.

"Rachel?" she asked, continuing their previous conversation.

"Let's go to Barbados!"

"Rach, we've already been there twice and that's not including our wedding and my keynote speech!" Ross said, groaning.

"But it's so beautiful at this time of the year!"

After a round of protests, she gave up.

"Fine! Then you suggest some place." she said, looking very unhappy about it.

"Hmm.. How about..."

"And it should not be famous for its museums! Or it's history!" Rachel said, pointing a finger accusingly at him.

Ross, who had opened his mouth to say something, shut it with a disgruntled "Learning can be fun."

"Chandler?"

"Errrm..."

Just then, their discussion was interrupted by a call on Joey's mobile.

Joey casually looked at the identity of the caller.

"Sorry, I have to take this call. You mind?" he asked.

The group's only reaction was widening of their eyes and slight slacking of their jaws. Why was he being so formal?

"Sorry! I get stuck in these protocols you know!" he said a while later, blushing a bit when he realised that it had been unnecessary

"Hello?"

"Oh. Hi, Angelina!" he said, his forehead relaxing on recognising the voice at the other end.

'Angelina Jolie?' Ross mouthed in surprise.

Joey nodded and smiled as though there was nothing new about it for him.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Did he just call Angelina Jolie as 'Angelina'? " Rachel asked, unable to contain her excitement.

Joey gave her an annoyed look as he attempted to focus on the voice at the other end. Chandler seemed to want to snatch the phone, a motion which did not go unnoticed by Monica.

"You don't get to talk to a celebrity everyday!" he offered in his defence.

"You talk to Joey everyday." she snapped.

"It's Joey! He doesn't count!"

Irritated by the lack of restraint displayed by his friends, Joey headed inside the house to continue talking in peace. The group was still finding Joey's brand new fame difficult to digest and Joey didn't make it any easier by bombarding Angelina on them. They attempted to discreetly follow Joey, but were thwarted when they found the backdoor bolted from inside.

"This is unbelievable! Now I have to sneak into my own house!" Monica exclaimed.

"Chandler, you check the front door."

"On it!" came his voice.

"It's locked!" he shouted, after checking it, or rather pulling the handle with his full strength and falling down.

Groans came from the rest of the gang.

"Okay. So I'm gonna try going through the window!" Monica exclaimed and headed to the glass window which was thankfully open. But the trouble was that it was at a height. Nevertheless, Monica managed to put one of her legs over the sill. Her attempt at breaking in into her own house was rendered unnecessary as Joey emerged out of the back door, having ended the call and looking visibly upset. He stopped short on seeing Monica's antics.

"What exactly are you doing, Mon?" he asked, perplexed.

"Nothing!" she answered as if on cue, and quickly let go of the sill.

Joey wasn't satisfied, but as he had something important to discuss he just shrugged and cleared his throat.

"Listen up, guys! I've got a good news and a bad one, which can also be good depending on how you look at it. Which one would you like to hear first?" he asked addressing everyone.

"The good one please!" Rachel pleaded.

"The good news concerns you, Rach. Angelina had a look at your designs which I showed them for you."

The effect of this statement on Rachel was immediate and she clung on to Joey's next words as though her world depended on them.

"And as it turns out, she thought they were pretty good and would like to have some of them in the wardrobe of the set of her next film."

"I can't believe this! She actually liked my designs! I'm going to be designing dresses for a movie star!" Rachel was giddy with joy as everyone cheered and congratulated her.

"Then what's the bad news?" Chandler finally asked.

"The bad news is that for that, we'll have to show up ourselves in LA before Thursday. That is in the next three days."

A shocked silence spread through them yet again.

"So... So... that means you'll have to leave by day after tomorrow?" Phoebe asked, suddenly feeling let down.

"I'm afraid, yes." he said. "But if you think of it this way, we had already been planning a trip and you guys have never seen me in my new life there. So why don't we all go to LA? Make this a trip?" Joey asked, looking at everyone's faces in turn for their reactions.

The silence this time was calculating, unlike the one moments before.

"That's actually not a bad idea!" Chandler responded after a while.

"Yeah. And Oh! We can take the kids to Disneyland! I've never been there!" Phoebe exclaimed, very excited by merely thinking about it.

"Did someone just say Disneyland? Are we gonna go there?!" Emma asked, popping suddenly from the door.

"What say? It'll be fun for all!" Phoebe asked yet again.

"Fine, then. Pack your bags everyone! We'll be rolling to LA!" Monica said, smiling in agreement.

"To LA!" everyone said in chorus.

"To Hollywood!" said Chandler and Ross in unison.

"To Angelina!" Rachel said in a dreamlike state.

"To Disneyland!" Phoebe and Emma exclaim almost simultaneously.

 **Yeah, I know about the whole Jennifer Aniston - Brad Pitt - Angelina Jolie thing.**

 **But the important thing to remember here is that here Rachel Green is just Rachel Green. I thought Rachel meeting Jennifer would be too cheesy or cliché. I simply intended to make a point about Joey's fame, and wanted a celebrity who was globally famous. Plus, this is the Friends universe. The Angelina Jolie here need not have such a 'past' with Aniston. I hope the hardcore Jennifer fans are not too upset with my choice**. **It's all written in good faith. :)**

 **Till next time fellas'! :)**


	3. Onboard! (And Offboard)

**3.** **Onboard! (And Offboard...)**

 **A/N:- So here I am! And with a New year gift from my side! :)**

 **I'm really sorry for the hopelessly erratic updates, and feel even more guilty to say that I can't guarantee any regularity in the near future. I really owe you guys for putting up with it, 'cuz I'm not sure I would've myself! A big thanks to all my readers!**

 **Disclaimer:- There's** **a joke on infidelity in this chapter. Honestly the intention is plain humour and doesn't mean to suggest any cross pairing or relationship troubles. All eight are happily married.**

"Oh, but it would be so much fun!" Phoebe wailed, trying to convince the rest who were seated on the couch and chairs in the living room of the Bing household.

Ever since the proposal of going to LA had become concrete, the energy had never quite left the group and for hours they were discussing each and every aspect like must see places, where to go first etc. In short, the whole itinerary. Ideas were placed on the table, and voted collectively. The horn had been unanimously declared 'inhumane' and hence been discarded.

So far, all the major debates had resolved. Except for one. How the hell were they going to go to LA in the first place.

"For the last time Pheebs! Mon is right. A road trip isn't practical!" Ross said in an attempt to make her understand.

"Why not? There'll be five of us in your car, five in Monica's and two of us along with those two hunkies in the Mercedes just like our morning trip." she said, not quite getting the point.

"First of all Pheebs. Those guys are not 'hunkies' alright? They are a lot more than that. And second of all, what makes you think I will be allowed to take the rented Mercedes 2812 miles away from here?! " Joey replied, a bit agitated.

All of them looked at Joey with widened, surprised eyes.

Joey blushed and shrugged at their response.

" I kinda searched the distance on Google maps, when Phoebe first mentioned the idea of a road trip." he admitted sheepishly, to which Chandler gave him a look which seemed to say, 'When did you become so smart?'

"Hold on. So that Mercedes is not yours?!" Phoebe asked, taken aback.

"Of course not! Didn't you see that yellow plate? I rented it just for today's commute." Joey said in a tone which suggested that it was a normal thing to rent a Mercedes every now and then.

"Hang on. Did all of you think that the Mercedes was mine?" Joey asked, incredulous.

There was a definite pause before Rachel stuttered a response.

"Oh, no, no! We wouldn't make a mistake like THAT!" she said, blushing as she waved her hand.

The tell-tale look in everyone's eyes was too much of a giveaway though, even for Joey, whose eyes became as wide as saucers.

"Jeez! That's so insulting! To think that I would own a plain C200?! Do you guys even know me anymore?" he exclaimed, not quite realising that he was contradicting himself.

"Errmm... Actually, no. We don't." Chandler replied, who had only a vague idea of his best friend's recent riches.

"So which car do you own?" Phoebe asked, intrigued.

"A BMW M3 Convertible. Although I do plan on buying a Lamborghini." Joey said, smirking.

"Ooh. I like that!" said Phoebe smacking her lips.

"Errm... Pheebs? You do know that Skype works both ways, right?" said Mike, whose face was visible on the laptop they had propped open as they had a live videoconferencing set up with him.

"Oh, relax!" Phoebe replied, rolling her eyes in dismissal.

"Okay, enough debate! Let's vote!" Monica said, banging her palm on the table.

"I think that a road trip though tantalising, would be too hectic and is bound to get off-schedule what with half a dozen kids around. So I vote for a flight, which though conventional, would not only save time and money but also be smoother and safer." she continued, casting her vote.

"I think Mon pretty much summed it. I would like to vote in favour of a flight." Ross said, who was seated next to her.

"I guess technically Mon, you are right. But, I mean seriously guys, how many times have we actually got a chance to do a thing like this? All of us together? Zero in the past six years! So I say that we do it good and we do it right. Which means... Road trip! Who's with me?" asked Chandler, whose comment was greeted with a lot of whoops and cheers from Rachel and Phoebe, both of whom were already in favour of a road trip.

"Okay, so that's 3 for road trip and 2 for a flight." Monica announced, once everyone had calmed down. "Mike?" she asked, and everyone arched themselves so as to get closer to the screen.

"Errmm... I guess Monica's right." came his reply.

"Yes!" Monica exclaimed or rather, shouted.

"WHAT?!" Phoebe shouted, even louder.

"I mean honey look, Chandler and you do have a good point saying that this could be the trip of a lifetime, yet I can't help but think that Monica's choice is more logical. It's not gonna be even remotely easy to manage half a dozen children on a 3 day long trip. Hence I vote in favour of flight." he offered.

"Alright, you know what?! You shouldn't even be allowed to vote!" Phoebe fumed.

"Well if that's the case..." Mike said slyly, "Then all of my votes don't count. Meaning..."

"Monica gets to veto in case of a tie! No! You cannot do this to us!" Phoebe exclaimed in horror and so did the others as they came to that realisation. Monica rolled her eyes.

"Ahemm." she said, in order to gain attention. "Okay, so that's 3 in favour of road trip and 3 against, which leaves..."

Everyone turned to look at Joey, who looked liked a deer in the headlights.

"Uh oh..." he said, gulping.

"Come on, Joey! You have the deciding vote! Now do the right thing and vote in my favour." Phoebe said, while Monica swiftly disappeared into the kitchen, unnoticed.

"Errmm... yeah, I mean personally, I do like the idea of road trip more than.." he said, before he was distracted by...

"Hey, what's that smell?"

Everyone turned towards the kitchen to see Monica wafting the mouthwatering smell of brownies by a fan.

"There's a whole batch waiting just for you! Just vote for a safe flight..." she said in a sing-song voice, tempting.

"Joey! Focus!" Phoebe commanded, not at all impressed by Monica's trick and the 'effect' which it was having on Joey.

"It's too hard!" he wailed, not wanting to disappoint anyone. Just then however, his eyes brightened.

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed.

Everyone did wait with bated breaths. Only for a few seconds though...

"You were gonna say something?" Chandler asked.

"Shhh! I'm thinking!" Joey said, who had both of his index fingers on his temples, as though deep in thought.

"Yeah, and I'm James Bond!" Chandler said.

Rachel looked at him with daggers in her eyes.

"What? Is Joey the only one who can be sarcastic?" he said, in justification.

"You know what?! I think we can work out a middle ground." said Joey, beaming as he suddenly thought of an idea.

"What do you mean?" Monica asked, intrigued.

"Like halfway flight and halfway by road?" Rachel guessed.

"That'll be even more weird, man." Ross said, while everyone seemed to agree.

"That was not what I meant! I mean, what if we do go by plane, but... it's just us, if you know what I mean..." Joey trailed, a spooky look of mystery in his eyes.

Nobody did.

"So... You want us to hi-jack a plane?" Chandler asked, genuinely confused.

"Ooh! That sounds even more exciting!" Phoebe said, jumping in her seat.

"How can you guys even think of saying that with a straight face after 9/11?! " Ross said, with a look of disgust on his face.

"Oh no! We won't hurt a soul!" Phoebe replied, mortified.

"Are you guys done speculating, or should I wait until you are done?" Joey asked, disgruntled.

Everyone did stop 'speculating', although it may have been because of the fact that Joey had said such a word in the first place.

"Well.. I might have to pull some strings, but this guy, who's sort of a friend of mine owns a private jet. And he also kinda owes me a favour. So, I'm thinking that maybe we can travel by that."

An awestruck silence greeted the suggestion, which Joey mistook as uncertainty.

"What?! I thought it was a good idea!" he said, looking around.

The rest were still bathing in the aftershock.

"Well... if you don't like it, then maybe we can..." Joey said, but before he could continue, Phoebe suddenly stood up and marched upto him, and halted with her face mere inches from his.

Joey gulped.

"I'll tell you just how much I liked that idea." she whispered and kissed him full on the lips.

It was a full 10 seconds before they broke apart.

"You liked it so much?! Thanks!" Joey answered, a bit out of breath.

"Hey, things are really getting out of hand here!" Mike's image shouted from the screen.

Phoebe still looked lovestruck while Rachel said,

"Oh! I'm next!"

"You think so?" Ross asked Mike in exasperation as they helplessly watched the infidelity unfold.

"You know, I really can't blame them. I would've kissed him myself. God knows I want to." Chandler said.

Ross and Mike didn't roll their eyes.

* * *

"Phew! I'm glad we finally sorted it out!" Ross said, as he and Rachel walked through the gate, to their house.

"Yeah! A private plane! Wow! I mean, who would've thought?!" Rachel replied, the excitement still obvious.

"Yeah!" Ross said, chuckling, as he turned in the keys to the main door.

The couple entered the house to find it eerily dark and quiet.

"You think the kids have slept?" Ross asked, although he was skeptic.

"It's barely past nine and Emma rarely sleeps on time. You really think she would sleep when she has got five kids to play with?" Rachel countered.

Ross switched on the lights to see the living room appearing as if a tornado had struck it.

"Yeah, I knew it was too much to hope for." he said, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Where are they, anyways? Emma?" Rachel called.

"Up here Mom!" came Emma's reply.

"You go check on the kids while I clear this mess up." Ross said. Rachel nodded in agreement and headed upstairs.

Ross was almost done restoring the living room to it's normal state when Rachel appeared on the stairs.

"Honey?" she said, her voice a little too sweet.

"Yes?" Ross replied, his eyes on the cushions as he kept them.

"If you are done, could you please come up the stairs? Erica needs a little help getting her doll." Rachel said, while a giggle escaped somewhere above.

"Oh, sure! Be there in a minute!" he replied, still not meeting eyes with her, which was fortunate. For Rachel.

Ross headed upstairs and into Emma's room to find Erica hovering around the bed, looking troubled. He smiled. After Emma and Ben, the child he was most fond of was Erica, and he always held a soft spot for her.

"What happened, sweetie?"

"Jack threw my doll under the bed and now I can't get it back!" she wailed.

"Did he now?" Ross asked, getting on his knees to be at level with Erica, who nodded vigorously.

"Well, we'll get your doll right back and then teach Jack a lesson. Okay?" he said

"Okay." Erica replied, smiling.

Ross bent down and put his hand under the bed. As nothing came to hand, he lowered himself even more, trying until he lay practically flat on the floor, while Erica still egged him on.

"You sure it's under here, Eri?" he asked

"Yes! I saw her!" she claimed.

Ross inserted his hand just a little more inside, to find it practically stuck.

"Ouch. Erica, could you call aunt Rachel for me? My hand appears to have stuck." he said.

Erica simply smiled conspirationally at him and turned towards the door to shout,

"Attack!"

Ross realized his mistake too late. He barely had time to feel sorry for himself as five kids stormed through the door and launched themselves on him.

"Ouch! Ow! What did I do?" Ross wailed, finding himself effectively trapped what with Joey Jr and Jack practically bouncing on him while others grabbed his legs and the free hand.

Rachel entered the room a couple minutes later, laughing as she said,

"And that's what you get for waking me up at 2 am in the morning and letting me make a complete fool of myself!"

"But that was Emma's idea!" Ross said in defence. "OUCH!" he screamed as someone pulled his little finger. "Okay. Alright. I'm sorry! Rach, would you please tell them to stop?" he said, pleading.

"Hmm." she said, pretending to consider. "Oh, I don't think so." she said, smirking and turned to leave.

"There's a lot of packing to do!" Ross said.

That caught Rachel's attention.

"Alright, kids! Off Uncle Ross if you want to go to Disneyland!" she called.

"Aww, mom! Just one more minute?" Emma asked.

Rachel looked at Ross who was casting his infamous puppy dog look before saying,

"Okay!"

* * *

As the first rays of the sun made their way to the horizon, they revealed a lot of activity in just the two houses in contrast to the rest of the neighborhood, which lay in peaceful slumber. Last moment packings, checking and (in Ross's and Monica's case) rechecking whatever they had packed. Not to mention getting their kids and themselves ready for the journey.

Not everything was going in tandem, however. For example, Joey had only gotten as far as brushing his teeth, whilst Monica had taken to keeping their luggage in the car. Or the fact that both Phoebe and Joey had practically nothing to pack had attracted the envy of the rest. Phoebe's triumphant vibes definitely didn't help lessen it.

Nevertheless, they were only twelve minutes behind (Monica's) schedule as they put their cars into gear and headed to Westchester county airport, which was merely at a distance of 10 miles, much closer than JFK.

The airport was small and dainty and a chartered plane meant that the security checks went through a lot quicker. That was how barely an hour later they found themselves standing in front of a small, sleek jet which seemed to be a perfection of modern aerodynamics.

"Holy mother of God! Is this what I think it is?!" asked Chandler, while all others let out muffled yet similar expressions, dumbstruck.

"Presenting, Cessna 750 Citation X, the fastest civilian aircraft with a Mach speed of 0.86, capable of 3700 miles non stop journey with complimentary hostess." Joey described proudly, with all the smugness of a rich businessman.

"How much does it cost, Joe?" Ross asked, intrigued.

"23 million dollars apiece." Joey replied, smugly.

"Damn! I'm just 22 million dollars short! Does anybody have 22 million dollars?" asked Phoebe, looking genuinely hopeful.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Rachel, all of a sudden, and blushed when she noticed that the spotlight had shifted.

"Ahemm...Was just checking if this was real or yet another of my multi-million dollar dreams. Nope, it's not. Otherwise I would've had my cheque ready by now." she clarified, as she rubbed over the spot where she had pinched herself.

"You still have those? You told me you stopped having those years ago!" Ross exclaimed, seeming to have taken offense.

"I tried, Ross! Honestly, I did! But it's not like one can control what they dream, you know?" Rachel replied, looking somewhat exhasperated.

The others had a look which seemed to say... 'Why is this such a big deal again?'

An uncomfortable silence seemed to descent amongst the group as Ross lowered his gaze and shuffled his feet, whilst murmuring almost inaudibly,

"But you know how much it troubles me to hear that you have dreams which I can't fulfill..."

"Honey, that simply doesn't mean that I love you any less for it. I'm completely happy with what we have! And besides, not all dreams are meant to be fulfilled, you know? Some are better off as wistful fantasies." Rachel replied, gently tugging his shoulders and taking him into a hug.

"But when some do come true, they are so much better than you would've ever dreamt them to be" Ross said, his eyes full of devotion.

A couple of seconds passed as the group seemingly 'adored' the moment.

"Oh crap! I distinctly remember you saying that how much you wished Ross could get his promotion as the head of the department so that you could buy clothes twice as expensive!" exclaimed Monica, looking disgruntled.

"What?! So, that's why you want me to get promoted?" Ross asked. "Man, and here I was, thinking that for once you had taken a genuine interest in my job!"

"I... Well... " Rachel stuttered, unable to defend herself. "It was difficult to pay attention to anything else once you mentioned that raise! You shouldn't have told me about it!"

"Ha! Gotcha!" Monica said, looking triumphant.

"Well atleast I wouldn't kill someone to win the lottery!" Rachel said, turning towards Monica with her eyes as narrow as slits.

Everyone took a step back from Monica and looked at her with shock and disbelief.

"Poultry! I just meant poultry!" said Monica, raising her hands in surrender and looking aghast while Chandler's eyes seemed to pop as he mockingly laid his palms over his throat.

* * *

"And Ma'am, you would be taking?" the hostess asked Phoebe who had been glancing out of the window, lost in thought.

"Huh?" she asked, turning towards her, disoriented at first. The hostess smiled, and repeated herself politely.

"Oh.. Ahemm. Err.. I'll have a Martini." Phoebe replied, smiling.

The hostess penned it down and went down the aisle to the kitchenette of the plane.

Phoebe slumped back on her self-made, makeshift seat, trying to nod off her worries.

The journey so far had been beyond anyone's expectations. As soon as she had entered the plane, she was mesmerized by it's customized homey interior. Well... That was until she found out about the black leather seats. Then she refused to sit on any of them until finally they promised her a makeshift seat as soon as they were airborne.

Apart from that fiasco, everything had been perfect. Yet, she couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something was about to go wrong. Very wrong. And her instincts usually never defied her.

"I'll take that from here, thank you." came Joey's voice as he took the glass from the hostess and walked towards Phoebe.

"Hey!" he said "You comfortable?" he asked, handing her the drink.

"Very! Thank you!" Phoebe acknowledged as she gratefully took the martini and gulped it down a little too fast.

"I'm sorry about that. If I'd known of the seats before, I would've made different arrangements." Joey said, eyeing Phoebe as though trying to figure her out.

"It's cool! I mean, I've worn a fur coat for an entire day once, I sure can handle a seat for fifteen minutes!" she justified.

"It's actually thirty, once you add up the landing time." Joey added, cringing a bit.

When no reaction came from Phoebe, Joey became certain something was up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing." she said, waving her hand as she did so. "It's just that I've got this feeling that something bad's about to happen."

"Oh. Is there something I can do?"

"No..." Phoebe trailed.

"Huh." Joey said, visibly upset at not being able to help elevate her mood.

Seconds later however, he struck upon an idea.

"Oh, I got it! Maybe I should go and check whether the plane has both of it's phalanges!" he exclaimed, to which Phoebe laughed her famous loud, heartfelt laugh, making Joey realise how much he had missed it.

"You do know that there's nothing like a phalange in a plane, right?" she asked, to which Joey replied, smiling,

"Oh, you never know when we might need it!"

Just as Phoebe was about to add something, the co-pilot made his appearance, an ominous sign.

"Mr. Tribbiani? Sir?" he called

"Yes?" Joey asked.

"Could you please accompany me to the cockpit? There seems to be a complication..." the co-pilot trailed, seeming unsure of himself.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Joey said, and turned towards Phoebe. But the co-pilot didn't budge.

"Actually Sir, the matter requires urgent attention. So I'm afraid that you'll have to accompany me right now." he insisted, his tone becoming slightly more commanding.

By now, everyone's attention had shifted to the co-pilot and all the adults seemed sonewhat worried, while the kids looked curious.

"Okay! I'm coming!" Joey said, standing up. "Why are you being so cocky?"

The co-pilot didn't respond.

" 'Tis no wonder you work in a 'cock' pit." Joey continued, laughing at his own statement while the co-pilot plainly seemed exhasperated.

Perhaps he got it all the time.

* * *

"Passengers may I have your attention please? This is the captain of your plane speaking. I have both good news and bad news." the voice came from the speakers, only minutes later. The voice though, was obviously familiar.

"Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that..." Chandler said, but before he could continue, the speakers sounded again.

"The good news is that we are landing." it said, and continued almost immediately, "The bad news is that we are crash landing."

After barely a second's pause, there was uncontrollable laughter on the other end, followed by a shuffling sound.

"I've always wanted to say that ever since I saw Madagascar 2."

Everyone roll their eyes and let out sighs of relief, but it didn't last long since the real captain grabbed the headset from Joey.

"Attention all passengers. There's a slight alteration to Mr.Tribbiani's statement. We are indeed descending to make an emergency refuelling at North Platte regional airport, although it's going to be a well controlled landing and definitely NOT a... 'crash landing'. (The pilot's tone changed just a bit, as though admonishing his passenger wasn't 'routine procedure'. But then again, he had Joey as his passenger.) May I hence request all the passengers to fasten their seatbelts."

Before the pilot's words could sink in, there was a short static and the speakers emitted apparent sounds of a 'struggle'.

"No! Don't play with that sir! It's the manual landing gear! Henry, just take that away from him!"

(Sounds of a scuffle)

"Fine! Jeez, I'll go! Stop being so cocky!"

A bout of laughter was heard, which stopped abruptly, as though the source was roughly pushed away.

"Dad? What is so funny about the word cocky?" Jack asked to which Chandler somberly replied,

"Don't ask."

* * *

"Well... someone seems grumpy!" Chandler said, as Rachel finally made her appearance from the restroom lobby.

"Even you would be grumpy when you are made aware that there's a 'shortage' (air tags) of toilet paper a little too late!" Rachel fumed in response. "I mean, it's an airport for God's sake. Agreed that it has just two daily scheduled flights, but an airport all the same!"

"Yeah, you are absolutely right!" Ross said.

"Thank you sweetie!" Rachel said, glancing sweetly at him.

"Now get your card, so that we can resume the game and I can win the full house." Ross added, to which Rachel made a face and snatched her card back from Rain, who was the refree yet again.

It had been four hours since they had landed at North Platte regional airport, Nebraska and yet there were no signs suggestive of resuming their journey anytime soon. Joey had been positive that they would be onboard within an hour, but after a quick refuelling, it became obvious that the cause was different.

The airport wasn't helping, either. It was tiny and desolate, showing only a few hangars, a narrow small strip as a runway and a single building performing all the functions of a terminal. Fortunately, they weren't short of refreshments as the plane had enough stock to feed them for an entire day.

"I got the top line!" Jack exclaimed, waving his card with pride.

"Oh, let me see that!" Emma said, taking his card.

"Hey! Erica's calling the numbers! She should be checking, not you!" Jack retorted.

"Fine!" she said, huffing and handed the card to Erica, who began checking the numbers.

"You've marked 55, but I called a 5! See?" Erica said, pointing out the chart.

"Ha! I knew it!" Emma said, as Jack took the card back, blushing.

"Don't worry honey, you'll get it!" Monica said, trying to cheer him up.

As Erica put in her hand to pull out another number, Phoebe suddenly exclaimed,

"Oh! There he is!"

Everyone looked towards the gate to finally see the pilot head towards them.

"I hope you have some good news." Joey said, sounding buisness like.

The expressions on the pilot's face, however, seemed to say otherwise.

"Sir, I'm sorry to inform you, but the malfunction is more severe than what we had initially thought." he said in a tone which suggested that he was being cryptic on purpose.

"Meaning?" Monica asked, looking quizzically at him.

"Meaning that the need for refuelling was not due to overlooking of the fuel indicator by my co-pilot as was initially thought, but was due to a microscopic leakage somewhere in the circuit connecting the fuel tank to the combustion chamber, implying that the plane should be subject to replacement of the parts necessary and also a thorough testing procedure so as to ensure that it has resumed it's optimum performance." he ranted.

It was obvious from the looks on everyone's faces that none of them was any wiser about their current situation.

"He sounds a lot like you, dad." Emma said, to which everyone except Ross snickered, while Ross looked annoyed.

"Yeah, and one would've thought that after 20 years they would finally get the hang of it, but I still manage to zone out!" Chandler said.

The pilot looked halfway between amused and annoyed.

"I'm sorry... but...What?!" Rachel asked

"The plane cannot be chartered for carrying passengers until we are absolutely sure that this malfunction is corrected." he clarified.

"And how long will that take?" Ross asked, sounding like 'get to the point, will you?'

"Three days minimum sir, presuming that all the parts are available in this airport which is only a primary service center. I'm deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused. Trust me when I say that it's been the first time I've had to say this." the pilot offered, looking apologetic.

"So, let me get something straight. Are you trying to say that we are practically stranded on this airport?" Monica asked, her forehead wrinkling.

"That's one way of putting it, Ma'am."

Everyone felt a sinking sensation as Joey let out a wail saying,

"I had asked for some 'good news', man!"

 **A/N:- There you go! :)**

 **About the airport... I did some research and although it's location and traffic is real, I don't have much idea about the rest. Plus I've heard about the 'repute' of Nebraska. (Primarily The Big Bang Theory Sitcom). So Nebraska fans/residents, I'm sorry but even the next chapter is going to pull your leg!**

 **Oh and in case I go AWOL again, you can also catch me on my blog (and help a newbie blogger in the meantime)- soumitra97** **, on WordPress.**

 **Hopefully I won't be gone this long though..**

 **I wish you all a pleasant New year's Eve and a bright 2018! See you next year!**


End file.
